Looking for a family-friendly excursion that veers from your normal weekend track? A ride on a historic train chugging along the East Troy Electric Railroad is just the ticket.
Start your adventure at the East Troy Railroad Museum, set in a beautiful brick building on the National Register of Historic Places that’s filled with items from railroad history. This is also the depot from which trains leave for two destinations in nearby Mukwonago.
The trains travel on the last pieces of southern Wisconsin’s interurban railroad network, which once operated more than 200 miles of track built between 1890 and 1910. The two-car trains, built in the 1920s, now take about 130 guests on trips into the past.
Inside the light-filled cars, settle into plush gray seats. Or, better yet, nab one of the semi-private spaces — smoking cars in eras past — that are wonderfully suited for bigger groups or those with wiggly kids.
The ride itself is everything you’d hope for: full of whistles and dings, a steady fifteen-miles-an-hour pace and even a uniformed conductor stopping by to punch your tickets.
And the duration — roughly a half hour each way — is just right for most families. (Because when your toddler melts down, do you really want to in close quarters with strangers and hours away from your car?)
The train passes neighborhoods, cornfields and forests on the way to Indianhead Park and the Elegant Farmer, a foodie destination that hosts festivities each fall. It’s worth a stop for the apple cider doughnuts alone, but you can find other goodies — including the legendary Apple Pie Baked in a Paper Bag — in a positively packed market.
Then it’s back aboard the train, which runs on Saturdays and Sundays from late April through November 5, with additional Friday rides in the summer.
East Troy Electric Railroad, a nonprofit organization run by incredibly friendly volunteers, also offers charter trips, dining trips — like a Pizza Train — and the holiday-focused Christmas Train and Bunny Train to keep the magic of trains alive for new generations.